Carlos Beruff talks about his role leading Florida's Constitutional Review Commission

Will Wang Staff Writer

Wednesday

Sep 26, 2018 at 7:57 PMSep 27, 2018 at 10:35 AM

The group, which meets every 20 years, is able to put amendments directly on the ballot, bypassing the Legislature and citizen initiatives.

Carlos Beruff, chairman of Florida’s third Constitutional Review Commission, led a question-and-answer session Wednesday about his role in crafting the proposed state constitutional amendments Floridians will see on the ballot in November.

About 110 attorneys, judges and politicians attended the luncheon, which was hosted by the Manatee County Bar Association.

Florida’s constitution permits a unique amendment process in which every 20 years a committee can propose amendments that bypass the Legislature or a citizen initiative to go directly to voters. Beruff said his goal as commission chairman was to hold meetings within two hours of every Florida resident.

“Basically, my function was more or less a referee, as the chairman of any commission,” Beruff said. “We had a diverse group of people, with a diverse bunch of interests, trying to see how much damage they can do to the constitution of Florida. My mission was ‘Do no harm.’ … I think we’ve accomplished that with the amendments that are making it on the ballot.”

Beruff said he supported all eight amendments the commission proposed and was disappointed that one was struck from the November ballot by the state Supreme Court. The stricken amendment, which would have allowed charter schools to receive backing from the state Legislature instead of local school boards, would have created “competition” allowing charter schools greater choice in receiving their certification, Beruff added.

The luncheon also featured speeches by candidates for Florida House District 71, which includes parts of Manatee and Sarasota counties. Democratic nominee Tracy Pratt said she was running a grassroots campaign and urged the room of attorneys to uphold their “sacred duty” to the United States to protect the Constitution against a president who has “declared war on a free press” and “attacked the independent judiciary.”

Republican nominee Will Robinson gave a more standard stump speech, talking about the need for greater workforce development and warning against Florida becoming a “high tax, high spend” state like New York.

“I toured about 200 small businesses in our area, and they all tell me the same thing,” Robinson said. “‘We can’t find quality workers for these job slots.’ And we have award-winning technical colleges in our area that need to be supported. In my view, a four-year degree shouldn't be your only pathway to prosperity.”

Beruff also discussed amendments that did not gain the commission’s approval. Right now, he said, a loophole exists where write-in candidates can file to run in a party primary with no fees or administrative barriers. Since Florida is a closed primary state, this means that districts where only candidates of one party have registered have elections decided only by voters of that party.

Though he had advocated for an amendment closing that loophole, Beruff said, it garnered only a simple majority of the commission’s votes — not a supermajority, as required by law.

Criminal defense attorney Betsy Young said that she thought the luncheon was informative and that Beruff had done a good job staying neutral while discussing the amendments, despite the fact he played a role in deciding them.

Judge Tom Gallen, who was a part of the first Constitutional Revision Commission in 1968, said he enjoyed the luncheon’s question-and-answer format. However, he bemoaned the amendments’ content, a sentiment echoed by Rep. Jim Boyd, R–Bradenton.

“What I feel is that 90 percent of the constitutional amendments are legislative issues,” Gallen said. “They shouldn’t be in the constitution.”

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.